The Flying Dutchmen

Source: ESPN

 A wonderful goal by Robin van Persie at the end of the first half was the start of the deluge of goals that was only matched the rain. Holland poured on four more goals after halftime to hand Spain the worst ever loss by a defending world cup champion. An excellent outing by the Oranje exposed a suspect Spanish defense. While the end scoreline suggested easy work, it was not that way to start. 

Spain controlled the the first 45 minutes and took a 1-0 lead through a penalty converted by Xabi Alonso after Diego Costa was brought down (softly, in my opinion) by De Vrij. While Van Persie tied it before halftime, the feeling was that Spain had control of the match. They exposed the three center backs for Holland and had control of the midfield.

The second half though brought a change in attitude from Holland as the personal stayed the same. They got the ball on the right foot when Robben took on two defenders and put Holland up. That wasn't the end though as both Van Persie and Robben struck again after De Vrij scored from a cross. 

While I'm sure that any fan of Holland would prefer winning in 2010, this goes a long way towards healing that wound and puts Holland in a strong position to win a tough group. 

World's Greatest Adventure

   
   

     Every four years, the worlds largest celebration takes place; the FIFA World Cup. It is the pinnacle sporting event in the world. It is the olympics except with a sport that the entire world loves. For the next 31 days, the world will be watching as Brazil hosts the spectacle this time around. While there is much controversy in many areas, it doesn't change the excitement going around. Daily life will stop in some areas. Legends will be born. Dreams will be crushed. In the end, one team will be able to call themselves true world champions of the greatest game on Earth. Follow me as I go on adventure with the world cup. And even though we're a long shot to even get out of the group, go USA!!!

A Pirate's Life for Me

Pirate flags are plentiful during Buccaneer Days.

The first weekend of October, hundreds of boats and thousands of people converge on the tiny town (it's really more of a village) of Two Harbors on Catalina Island. The occasion? A weekend full of drunken debauchery while dressed up as pirates, formally known as "Buccaneer Days". If you're looking for an adventure, there is no need to look any further.

The adventure usually starts on Thursday for a fair portion, if not a majority of people. The moorings (parking spaces for boats) are usually full by Thursday afternoon, or Friday morning for the farthest out ones. Then you have more people coming by way of ferry that'll fill the multiple campsites to capacity on Friday and Saturday. I'd be willing to bet that some even come without a place to stay and sleep on the beach.

Moorings fill up fast. Only a part of the bay is seen here. 

Friday night the fun officially kicks off. Everyone dons their pirate attire and heads ashore (unless they are already passed out). If you choose not to dress up, you will stick out like a sore thumb. You may even be forced to walk the plank. They put up a fence enclosing the two bar areas, the restaurant, and a stage area with open spaces for conversing or dancing. There is a band that plays till about 11 and then a DJ for the rest of the evening. They "close" at 2 am but many people continue the party after that.

Donning our finest pirate attire

The next morning it's not unusual to be woken up to the sound of a cannon going off, followed by tons of people yelling "AAARRGHHH". Ashore you will see people, still in full costume, already starting to drink. They may even still be drinking from the night before. As the day turns into night, the shenanigans are plentiful. Saturday night is a repeat of Friday, but with more people and more time spent drinking. I will commend the sheriffs and the lifeguards there who do a fine job of making sure everyone is safe yet allowing them to have fun.

Sunday morning comes. After two days of living like this, reality starts to set back in. The restaurant offers a great breakfast buffet for people to feast on before departing back to the real world.

Monday morning, you wake up almost depressed. Then, while at work, you look down and see the remains of the black nail polish you forgot to take off and laugh. For just a few days, you were living without worries, taking life in by the moment and savoring it. Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me.

Good Mornings

Waikoko's, Kauai

I have always been an early riser. I feel like part had to do with the fact that we had a pretty strict bedtime growing up so we constantly got 8 hours, if not more, of sleep most nights. Being so rested, it was never a problem when it came time to get up. Add in waking up around 6 for school during the week and sports during the weekends, it is little wonder why I can wake up early now. However, I also have a different theory.

I love the ocean. The power, the beauty, everything about it. I also love nothing more than surfing. Any person who does surf will agree that the best time is often early in the morning. There is usually no wind so the water is like glass. The crowd is, usually, at a minimum since it's early (although if the waves are good enough, it will be crowded before the sun even comes up). Since I never had trouble getting up, I used to love going surfing in the morning before school; likewise, I still enjoy a morning session before work nowadays. And while I am a morning person, even I need an alarm to get up that early. Hearing an alarm brings back these memories. Ask anyone who surfs and they will all say the same thing, you can never be in a bad mood afterward you are done. This is where my positive morning attitude comes from. So, while the early bird gets the worm, the early bird will also get the best waves.

It's Been Awhile...

Well Hello everybody!

It has been a while indeed. Almost 5 months to be specific. It is funny how I started writing this blog as a means to get away (at least mentally) from the grinds of daily life yet those very grinds took me away from writting. One of the many quotes I am quite fond of goes as follows "Never get so busy working that you forget to live." I did. However, I have forced myself to re-prioritize a few things and here I am again.  So yay! Now this isn't to say I've had no fun, I have. I just didn't make time to write about anything. Hopefully that changes starting rrrright now. To start things off, a little video I put together. Stay tuned for more to follow. Welcome back to adventure :)

Z is for Zzzzzzz's

The end has finally come. All I can say right now is "sleeeeep". I've been burning the candle on both ends this month to keep up with this challenge. While I have my idea mapped out, I never really got ahead on content so I was either up late writing or early the morning of usually. Note to self: Write ahead next year. This was certainly been quite an adventure though. Despite the energy, I have had a lot of fun. I found a number of blogs that I will continue to follow. I will fill in the couple missing letters over the next couple days. For now I'm going to take a day of rest and try to get over this sore throat I have. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. I'm looking forward to next year already.

W, Welcome to the Wild West

When I think of the term "wild west", Cowboys, horses, beer and the desert come to mind. Music wise,  Country is the obvious choice. Today, I get to incorporate at least 2 of those. Today I will be heading to Stagecoach, a country music festival in the desert of California. That is why for "W", I picked the wild west.

Growing up, I was exposed to many different varieties of music. I feel this is the reason I have such a love for such a broad range of music. One genre of music I could not get into when I was younger though was Country. That all changed when I went to college. Most of  my friends listened to country music up there. Eventually I found some artists that I liked and now I do enjoy most country music so this weekend should be fun. I am leaving from now through Monday. I have been busy to make up work for the 2 days I'm going to miss, hence the lacking posts and especially comments. While there are a ton a great bands that will be performing, I am most excited about seeing the Zac Brown Band. I've seen them once before live and they were fantastic. I can't wait to see them again. Here is one of my many favorite songs of theirs:



I apologize for the short posts these next few days. I will be busy enjoying myself. I will be sure to do a nice long write up afterwards to make up for it;)